Every thread I have followed discussing MP Tracks has been nothing but constructive, honest feedback.

Usually Dean or Sixo will post a bunch of praise for it, then myself or a few people will post their issues, then Dean or Sixo will post several large hi-rez photos in reply...

But nothing like what you are saying.

I see more bitching about people complaining about toys than I see actual complainers of toys.

 

Signed and sealed.

 

One point to consider: has there been a 3rd Party replacement that's hands down better than an official version? (aside from MP-5 of course)
Toyworld Bii is a nice looking chibi Bumblebee but doesn't fit the "Real Car" aesthetic of the MP line nearly as well as the official does.
Citizen Stack has it's supporters but it's kind of lanky and awkward to be UM.
Quakewave get's a lot of love for nostalgia reasons but from the waist down he looks nothing like Shockwave.
The TT Van's have a LOT of issues (tire butt, hip flaps, red cross shoulders, even the face is still in doubt) but the alternatives aren't exactly flying off the shelves - Voodoo is ok but doesn't really scream MP to most people.
Even FT Hot Rod - Takara's version nailed the vehicle mode while FT's is way too squat. The official get's a lot of criticism for gorilla arms in bot mode, but till it's in hand, it's hard to say for sure. Plus FT's been confirmed for 2017 at the earliest, so it's a long way from being a comparable product.
FT's Grinder will probably outshine MP-8 - but like Megatron, that's an old figure from before the reboot.

Takara may have fumbled the ball a bit recently but the 3P's have yet to swoop in and pick it up.
Until I see some third party figures that the majority agree are preferable to an actual official product, how can anyone say Takara is out of the game?

 

If it wasn't for our local meetup thread I would spend 100% of my forum time in the 3P section.

 

Well the thing is 3rd party is starting to outpace TT by a long shot in terms of the number of characters they are covering. Soon they will probably cover most of the figures TT will eventually want to do.

In the past 3rd party figs were good, but never really captured the "soul" of the character... I don't know if it was just over designing or facesculpts that were just a bit off?

TT are gonna have to up their game because looking at the Badcube figures...they are nailing the facesculpts and feel very much "alive". They are starting to fit nicely in the MP aesthetic. To me, that means TT needs to nail the designs, no more 'hip kibble' or 'butt flaps'. That said, I think TT can outdo Sunsurge or Sphinx, it will be hard to do, but I have faith they can.

On a side note: Ive seen in a few different discussions that some TT designers are actually freelancing for 3rd party? If that is true, what should we think about that?

I often wonder if TT will just say "to hell with it" and move on to something else non-MP, or change up the MP scale to throw 3rd party off a bit. We could use a new G1 MP Prime  

 

TT the company may be able to, I have no faith in the people who designed MP Irohide, Ratchet, Hot Rod, or Shockwave can.

 

Price is a big factor for me. If I can order a TT MP Car from HLJ for ~$55 shipped, any 3P offering better be darn good for the typical $90-100!

Still, I'm highly likely to test the 3P MP waters this year with the Fans Toys Insecticons, but will probably wait until a convention like DairyCon or TFCon to see if I can get a deal, especially if any official TT ones have been announced by then.

 

Do you mean like VooDoo making a better Ironhide and Ratchet?
Or MMC making a better Ravage? Okay that one is a little unfair.

 

I always felt that 3P should be the upper echelon of collectibles. They have no rules/regulation, no parts restriction etc... So their releases should be top notch. Official toys still has to be profitable and kid friendly so they can't go all out. Which is one of the reasons why I never considered the official MP's as super high end collectible or premium stuff. I buy official when available as cheaper alternatives to 3P counter parts and not the other way around. People called them placeholders.

Best way for me to describe this in Gundam terms is that 3P has the capability to make Perfect Grade offerings. And all Takara is giving us is as best Master Grade. Master Grade are good enough collectibles as is but Perfect Grades exist for those that want something a little more.

BadCube's Sunsurge, MMC Sphinx and MT Gundog is spot on to what I want as MP. Takara can make a cheaper alternative and I would only buy it if I didn't buy those 3 characters. Without a MP Hound or Sunstreaker or Mirage, I would consider a Takara option only because I know it would be cheap, at around $55 shipped, unlike these 3P which could be as high as $85-$100. But the 3P option is well worth it. Not only are the sculpt and engineering nice, the quality build is there and is better than most of the official MP offerings.

 

Both TT and Voodoo have the same bad torso to me. I really appreciate what TFC did with Ironhide and Ratchet. He is over detailed but otherwise just looks more like a "masterpiece" to me. Also the shoulders are less oversized in person then they looked like in pics.

The part of their look that really stood out in G1 was their chest (I'm just counting heads as assumed). I'm willing to sacrifice the look there (as long as they don't look bad) for a better chest area. On both TT and Voodoo they have the windshield on the front of course, but then behind it their torso was smaller. That makes them very ugly to me from any angle other than head on. TFC's has a full torso behind the chest. Will I replace them when something better comes along, almost certainly, but neither TT nor Voodoo have produced it.

 

Remixing culture actually includes making your own thing and not the same thing but not called the same thing. A red truck robot not called Optimus Prime could be a red truck robot which isn't Optimus Prime with a bit more effort.

 

^ Hmm.... I've read this post like 10 times and I don't think I get it. Not sure if this is a translation/language issue, or if I'm just not evolved enough...

Are you saying that the 3rd parties who make 'homage' characters just aren't putting enough effort to actually be original?

Because I don't think that's the point of making these toys at all. We want Optimus prime, not Joe Red Truck. They are catering to a specific market.

 

Okay okay I won't disagree BUT there is something very unnatural looking about TT's body I can't put my figure on it but they just have a weird looking humanoid frame. You can tell they just don't have something right in the proportions and articulation. Voodoo at the end of the day has a humanoid well proportioned frame. Not perfect but better than TT.

 

Ah, that other perceived piece of Board "wisdom."

"TT don't give a fuck outside their own market,"...............

When you give a reason for slowing the release of the Datsuns as being an "increase in production to meet Overseas Vendor orders" you're giving a fuck about markets outside Japan.

As to whether or not they wanted/bought Quakewave.........I guess nobody in Japan has access to Social Media too right?  

 

I agree with you I think third parties are going after the Asian market every bit as much as us. It seems to my stupid American perspective that FP and MT always have an Asian market in mind. I would assume they want Laserwave / Quakewave every bit as much as us so FT thinks of their market too. Why wouldn't they?

 

That is something I hear a lot about TFC, that they are primarily concerned with the Chinese market.

 

Voodoo's vans are a long way from being universally acclaimed. They have almost as many issues as the officials. I will admit I was tempted on occasion but it never quite stacked up. Window feet? And those headsculpts are worse than the Takara ones!
And I will happily raise MMC's Ravage onto a glorious pedestal and praise it to the heavens... Just as soon as I see a photo of it in MP-13's chest.  

 

I'll buy everything Takara put out, but my obsessions this year have almost all been 3rd party. I tend to collect full lines once I start, so that's all the remaster stuff, the perfection stuff, and everything Fans Toys put out.

 

But that's a VERY outdated comparison. Tons of companies, starting with tech companies in the early 2000's, just don't as much about diplomas as long as you have the skills for it. If it matters, and a person has the skills already, they've been willing to pay for you to take the tests (and/or courses) if they need you to be certified for whatever reason. There are very few industries now where it really matters now.

Anyways, no. I don't think 3Ps are the future of MPs. There will always be the people who consider them "KOs" and won't touch them, there will always be those who only get them to fill in missing MPs until Takara gets around to them but I think more and more people will grow to accept 3P figures as their "official" fill ins in their collections.

 

It's funny you made that comment because I work in tech as a software architect. But that's not my whole point i.e. people still PREFER hiring someone with at least a Bachelor's Degree. I mean look at Google, which is arguably one of the best software house out there. Would they hire a highly experienced engineer with no degrees? Sure, but that person had better be a rock star and be able to reason just like someone out of college e.g. be proficient in math analysis, etc. And you forget about new graduates applying for a job. They'd better have degrees.